Google’s new version of its tablet and smartphone operating system “Lollipop” is the fifth version of Android, introducing new features and tweaks that collectively give the user the feeling that quite a lot has been improved.

Material Design is a new consistent look for Google’s apps, products and services, which stretches beyond Android to Google’s Chrome browser and Chrome OS software for low-cost laptops. The basic premise is a bolder, more colourful and flat look to icons, notifications and other interface elements.

This review is based on a very near final version of Lollipop released by Google for testing. Small things may change before release.

Smooth sliding

For Lollipop that means the use of much brighter, fuller colours than the previous version of Android and a more consistent look. Menu bars are one solid block of colour, icons are highly stylised and flat, while interface “cards” first introduced with Google Now are used throughout, floating and sliding over the top of each other adding depth.

Every bit of the interface looks different, including the background which now changes colour depending on the time of day in some apps, and some slick new sliding animations which add motion to many of Android’s responses.

The lockscreen smoothly slides up and down, with button taps pulsing with white circles. Apps now slide up from the bottom, while the notification shade is pulled down in two stages, one for notifications and a second for quick settings. The second stage has a particularly pleasing animation that reveals battery and settings icons, sliding out from the user profile icon.

More than just one user

More than one user can have an account on devices. Photograph: Screengrab

Beyond the obvious colourful difference, Lollipop introduces a couple of important features into the core Android experience.

The first is multiple user accounts on one device. Some Android tablets have had support for more than one user, but smartphones and other devices have been limited to a single user account.

Now multiple user accounts can be set up straight from the quick settings screen, including temporary guest accounts, making sharing a device within a family much easier. The user accounts are very basic at the moment – there are no parental control settings beyond restricted accounts that can limit for instance – but each user will have their own accounts and data inside their profile, which can be password protected.

Setting up a new device is now a lot easier for owners of older Android smartphones and tablets. Simply tapping another Android device on the back will transfer settings, apps and accounts as long as both support near field communication (NFC), which almost every Android device will.

It is a one-touch procedure, which works well and takeaway much of the headache of swapping to a new smartphone or tablet.

Notification filters

Each app can be blocked from displaying notifications, or added to the priority list. Photograph: Screengrab

Multitasking has also been enhanced with a new card system. Each app can show more than one card allowing users to switch to an open message or back to the inbox, for example – not just to one view in the app.

Notifications from any number of apps can now be filtered by priority on an app-by-app basis. Instead of letting any notification through, users can choose to let only important messages from favourite contacts to show or prevent any notifications from showing.

Users can set up quiet periods through the day or week, or activate the feature on an ad hoc basis – not something that is new to Android devices, but the first time it has been integrated into the core Android experience.

Longer battery life

The power saving mode turns the status bar orange to indicate it’s active, inhibiting some apps while the screen is off. Photograph: Screengrab

Lollipop also promises to help prolong smartphone and tablet battery life by being more efficient and tougher on battery-draining apps. It uses a new version of the underlying software called Art that powers apps, which is both faster and lighter on resources.

A pre-release version of Lollipop installed on a Nexus 5 smartphone made the battery last around a quarter longer, with others finding even longer gains of over 35% or two hours in tests. Users should see their smartphones and tablets lasting significantly longer after being updated.

A built-in “battery saver” mode aims to help the device last as long as possible by reducing processor performance and disabling use of data in the background; email and messaging apps will still update when opened, but may not while not active. It can be enabled manually or automatically at 15% battery remaining.

Battery saving modes are not new, as many smartphone manufacturers including Samsung, Sony and LG have built their own systems for reducing battery consumption, but now it is baked directly into the unmodified Android experience.

Better unlocking

Google has added new ways users can login to devices. Face unlock, which uses the front-facing camera of the smartphone or tablet to recognise the users face to unlock the device, has been altered so it runs in the background. As the user looks through notifications on the lockscreen, the device attempts to recognise the face, but if it can’t it will prompt for a pin or password when the user tries to go past the the lock screen.

Bluetooth devices such as headphones, speakers and smartwatches, as well as NFC tags, can be used to unlock the device automatically. When leaving the range of the trusted device the smartphone or tablet will re-lock, requiring a passcode.

Both login methods work well and can alleviate some of the irritations of keeping a device secure.

Where and when will it be available?

Google’s latest Nexus smartphone is a 6in phablet made by Motorola. Photograph: Google

The first devices to run Lollipop will be Google’s Nexus 6 smartphone and Nexus 9 tablet, which will be available in the next few weeks. Google’s Nexus 7 tablet and Nexus 5 smartphone will also be updated in the next month.

After Google’s release of Lollipop, other manufacturers will have to make the updated software available for their devices on a case-by-case basis, likely a couple of months later. Motorola has pledged an upgrade for its Moto G, X and E, HTC for its One M8 and older M7, while Samsung is expected to update the Galaxy S5 and Note 4 and LG the G3.

Verdict

Lollipop is a complete visual overhaul of the standard Android look, making it a much smoother, more coherent and connected experience – a big step up compared to previous iterations of Google’s software.

It is also faster, lighter on battery and adds a lot of what third-party manufacturers have had to manually bolt on to their customised versions of Android.

There are still a few areas that could be improved, mainly around app permissions and user privacy control, but overall Lollipop is a solid upgrade and keeps Android on-par with competitors.